Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Fees And Permits topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council updates multiple fee schedules: licenses, building permits and fire inspections adjusted to cover costs
Summary
The council approved changes to the city's license and permit fee schedules'including updates to business license fees, consolidated building permit fees into a new unified ordinance and reinstated a fire inspection fee schedule'after staff said current charges had not been updated in many years and were subsidized by the general fund.
Ellsworth's council voted this week to update several municipal fee schedules, including licensing and permit fees, a consolidated building permit ordinance and a reinstated fire inspection fee schedule.
Deputy City Clerk Ebony presented an update to Chapter 14 (licenses and permits) to lift several fees (public hearing notices and business license ranges) to reflect printing, inspection and other administrative costs; the council approved the changes. City code and building staff then presented a proposal to recodify building, plumbing/septic and electrical permit fees into a single unified building fee ordinance (a new Chapter 67) and to update charges that had not been revised in years. Code Enforcement Officer Robert Grant said residential permit fees were long outdated; staff proposed moving from $0.17 per square foot to $0.25 to better align with inflation and peer municipalities; council adopted the recodification and new fee schedule.
Fire Chief Scott Guillermo requested restoration of the fire department's fee schedule for plan review, inspections and hazard-based inspection cycles; staff said the schedule had been removed after 2020 and that reinstating fees is intended to stop a general-fund subsidy of inspection activity. Councilors discussed comparators in nearby towns and approved a middle-range fee schedule.
Councilors and local business owners at the meeting generally supported updating fees that cover inspection time and allow quicker response and permitting services. Staff said updated fees will be scheduled for periodic review so charges do not become out of date.
